Blue Gender a Retelling
by Many Faced Mage
Summary: This is a retelling of how I like to imagine how Blue Gender could have gone if there were changes. What if the sleep girl who smiled at Yuji lived? How would that effect his feeling for Marlene? What if Marlene had cousin, who was part of another military group that fought the Blue unknown to the people of Second Earth. Read and you shall know.
1. Chapter 1: One Day

Blue Gender

Author's Note: This is the way I would like to imagine how the T.V. Series Blue Gender went. Some of it is like how it originally went but with a few different twists. Only the character that did not appear in the show, or the names belong to me. The rest belong to Funimation.

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Episode 1 One Day

The wind rustled through the leaves on the trees as a team of ten military elites and two giant robotic vehicles made their way to an abandoned medical building. Inside a medical capsule a young man named Yuji Kaido was awakened by the jolting movement of his capsule as the soldiers raced for the exit. Suddenly, the robotic visual scanner flashed red and the soldiers stopped looking left and right. They waited for something to appear.

Without warning, the wall to their left shook and several deep dents appeared in the wall. All of a sudden something burst through the wall. Looking through the window in the capsule Yuji saw something that looked like a giant stag beetle. The soldiers aimed their guns at it, ready for trouble.

Without warning something smashed into the cart sending it flying. Yuji was ejected from his capsule as it hit the floor. Looking forward he saw the giant beetle battling an equally big robot called an Armored Shrike. With a sudden burst of strength, the beetle smashed the shrike into the wall. The beetle then turned its attention on the two dead soldiers.

Making its way over to the bodies, it spat a substance and began to wrap them into a ball. Once done, the beetle turned its attention to Yuji.

"What is that thing?" he cried as it came closer.

"No, stay back! Don't come any closer!"

Opening its mouth, the thing roared. Just as it was about to strike Yuji, gunfire split the air. Blood erupted from the anus of the bug where the bullets had hit it. It toppled over and twitched spasmodically. The shrike made its way to the front of the bug stabbed it in the soft pink tissue and the bug died. The shrike turned to Yuji. The robotic head then lifted up and revealed a soldier. The mask looked something like a skull. The robot extended its hand to Yuji. Before it could grab him, Yuji ran down the halls.

"Mar, any sign of the samples? We're behind schedule," said a voice over an intercom.

"One of them has awoken and run off. Don't worry, I will have them soon."

"Well, you better hurry up. We're reading five more inside."

"Don't worry, I'm on it," said the soldier as the shrike raced down the hall.

As Yuji ran down the hall, memories of his past flashed through his mind.

"Blip, blip, blip," the sound indicated that the car was full and had its fuel.

"Have a nice day," said Yuji as the car drove away.

"Hey Yuji," called a voice.

It was his best friend, Takashi. Taking a break they lay down on the grass and watched the clouds roll by in the sky. Yuji voiced his concerns about his disease.

"The doctors say that they don't know how to treat it so I guess I have decided to become a sleeper,"

"Well I guess the doctors know what's best for you but once you beat this thing you and me should get away from this for a while. There is a lot to see out there and plenty of girls," replied Takashi.

"Yeah, I'll be waiting for you," replied Yuji.

The memories then switched to when Yuji and several others had entered the hospital.

"Don't worry an analysis of your genomes is already been completed. It's only a matter of time now before the appropriate gene therapy is developed," reassured one of the doctors.

"But we can't allow your conditions to progress any further so we devised this temporary solution," concluded the other doctor.

While this dialogue was going on, Yuji looked around and noticed a young girl with light brown hair and brown eyes who was about his own age. The girl noticed him and smiled. Embarrassed, Yuji looked away.

The memory ended when Yuji entered the capsule and closed his eyes. When Yuji arrived in the room where the sleepers had been kept his eyes were greeted by a horrible scene. Inside the room were four big green bugs. These had pincers in front of their faces. They were gathered around six capsules and one of them had been opened. Inside the capsule was the girl who had smiled at him. Without thinking, Yuji grabbed a metal rod and charged.

"No, stay away from her!" Yuji roared.

The one bug that was about to strike the girl turned around as Yuji thrust the rod into the pink tissue. The creature gave a hiss and died. He was about to stab the next one when the overgrown cockroach grabbed the rod and threw him against the wall. Turning their attention away from the sleepers, the bugs made their way towards Yuji. One opened its mouth and hissed. Just as it was about to strike, the back wall exploded. Bursting through the smoke the armored shrike appeared. Sensing what was coming, it jumped out of the way. The other two weren't so lucky. The gun of the shrike fired twice and took out the bugs. Switching its sight on the other one it fired, but its armor protected it and after taking several hits it sprang at the pilot. The pilot moved its head just in time. The monster's pincers shattered half the mask, revealing a woman with blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Bug and machine pushed against one another in an attempt to push each other back. With a sudden burst of speed, the shrike smashed the monster into the wall. As the monster struggled to get free the shrike aimed at the bug and fired. Shots bounced off the bug until one bullet went into the pink tissue. The thing exploded causing grey matter that looked like brain to bubble over. The thing hissed one last time and died. Yuji looked over to the soldier as she removed her helmet.

"Who and what are you?" he asked

"My name is Marlene Angel and yes, I am a human," she replied.

Then she aimed her gun at Yuji.

"Unless you would rather die, you will follow my orders."

Nodding, Yuji picked up the sleeper girl as Marlene loaded the sleeper capsules onto the back of her shrike. As they made their way down the hall, Marlene's eyes glanced left and right in case they were about to be attacked by any more monsters.

As they reached the main hallway, Marlene peeked around the bend. After doing this she looked at Yuji who sat on the strike's hand still holding the girl.

"Once we get past here we should be safe, so hold on tight and don't let go," she ordered. As they reached the main lobby another one jumped from the ceiling. Looking up, Marlene had just enough time to throw Yuji and his charge away as the bug landed, pinning the shrike to the ground and its gun arm. Landing a few feet away, Yuji absorbed most of the impact, preventing the girl from suffering any harm. Just as he was about to help, a noise from outside stopped him. Suddenly another armored shrike shattered the glass, but this one was piloted by two men. As glass flew in, Yuji shielded the girl from any harm.

"Ahhhhh, what's the holdup Marlene? Need a hand?" roared the front pilot.

"Leave this to us," said the rear pilot.

"Keith…Joey," cried Marlene.

Charging forward at an incredible speed, the shrike was right in front of the monster. Swinging its mechanical arm it smashed the thing off of Marlene.

"I got something for you. Come and get it!" roared Keith as he punched the thing four more times.

Getting up Marlene took careful aim. Showing no emotion, she fired and killed the overgrown cockroach. The sound of the gun shot awoke the girl who was in Yuji's arms. Looking over at the dead creature caused her to scream.

"What the hell is that thing?" she cried.

Taking no notice of her, Marlene turned to Yuji.

"Get out of here! Run!" she commanded.

"Right," said Yuji turning to the girl he asked her a question.

"Can you walk?"

"I think so," she replied.

As she tried to stand her knees wobbled and she collapsed. Thinking fast, Yuji picked her up and ran out the door. When he ran outside what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks. In front of them stood a dead Tank Beetle with its mouth smashed in. A little farther away stood a Chopper with its mouth shot apart. Suddenly a jeep came speeding down the road and stopped in front of them. The driver was African. His hair was in the shape of a Mohawk. He had dark sun shades on and an "X" tattoo on his left arm. Looking over at Yuji, he threw his left hand over his right shoulder which indicating to get in the jeep. All of a sudden a truck drove in. The driver was a muscular girl with red hair, brown eyes and a green bandana.

Just as the two shrikes appeared the commander stood up in the jeep and began to issue orders. He was in his thirties, with blond hair and a scar that ran down his left forehead.

"All right, load up the cargo and shrikes and move out, but let's leave them a present."

"Copy that," replied Joey as he fired a detonator into the main lobby.

The back of the truck opened up and a girl with light brown hair, brown eyes with her hair in a pony tail held in place with a Blue bead. She ran to one of the sides of the building and opened a duffle bag containing bombs. Placing one of them against the wall, she ran to the back of the truck. The sleeper capsules had already been loaded. Two of the truck's side doors opened, the shrikes were minimized so they could fit in the truck. Marlene had already gotten out of her shrike and ran to the jeep. Noticing Yuji still holding the girl, she turned to him and spoke.

"Come on. What are you two waiting for? Get in the jeep!" she ordered.

"Right," replied Yuji as he carried the girl to the jeep.

As they drove away from the hospitable he gazed out to the sea.

"Well at least the ocean looks still the same," he said.

As he put his hand on the door he quickly with drew it with a sudden grunt of pain. Looking down at his arm he saw that it had a small cut.

"You're bleeding," cried the girl.

Reaching inside her pocket she pulled out a handkerchief, tore it and tied it around his arm. This action caused him to blush.

"Thank you very much,"

The girl smiled and replied.

"Your welcome by the way my name is Cissnei Hordara," she spoke.

"Boom!"

Whipping his head around Yuji watched the hospital burn. After it was out of sight, he turned his attention to Marlene and began question her.

"So what is this place and what the hell were those things back there?"

"Those things are called Blue and they are enemies of all mankind," she answered. Yuji remained stunned as the vehicles drove down the road and into town.


	2. Chapter 2: Cry

Episode 2 Cry

As the vehicles drove into town, Yuji noticed a strange thing that looked like a nest on top of the building. As they drove through the town, he also saw green orbs that contained the bodies of the Blue's victims.

He also felt something on his shoulder and realized that Cissnei had fallen asleep against him. This caused him to blush. Meanwhile two members of the team, Joey and Katharine had gone looking for supplies. Looking inside an old grocery store, they found the shelves almost bare. They did however see another green orb inside the store. As Katharine searched the store, Joey looked in the back room and found several boxes containing water and cans of food. While outside, Yuji and Cissnei sat with Keith and Marlene. The sound of the wind rustling through the trees caused him to become alert.

"You stay that uptight for too long and you'll ruin your health. Pretty soon there won't anything left of you," warned Joey.

"Try and get some bed rest. A little sleep might do you both some good," he advised.

"What's that, a joke?" questioned Yuji.

"You two want one?" said Joey as he handed Yuji and Cissnei a flip-top can.

"You two better eat it now," advised Keith.

"Once they come out it will be too late for regrets," he continued.

"So how long has it been like this?" Yuji asked.

"Let's see, it has been like this as long as I can remember. I guess they first started appearing, I don't know, something like 15 years ago," answered Keith.

"Keith!" shouted Marlene

"What's the problem? The kids just woke up. Of course they want to known what's going on around here. Wouldn't you?" he replied indignantly.

"We haven't been ordered to fill them in. Now go relieve Minnie on watch," ordered Marlene.

"Humph! The operation doesn't go as planned, so the elites have to take it out on me. That's great," muttered Keith as he got up and took a can.

"Your wish is my command, ma'am," he sarcastically replied as he departed.

"Operation? What's that?" questioned Cissnei.

"Our team was to recover everybody in the building while you were all asleep," filled in Joey.

"Unfortunately the Blue became active around the installation and changed our plans a bit," explained Chris, another member of the team.

"Had it been a zero harvest, the evac team had orders to abandon us here," concluded Joey.

"With all that Blue activity it was lucky that we got the seven of you out of there," he finished.

After hearing this Yuji and Cissnei's eyes widened with anger.

"Lucky huh? Will that's not the way we feel being suddenly waken and nearly getting killed without any warning, without any idea of what's going on!" they shouted.

"Is that what you call lucky is it, when the hell did I ask you to wake us up!" shouted Cissnei.

"Look around. Do you think I wanted to wake up to this? Did you actually think you where helping us, did you?" hollered Cissnei.

"Would you kids pipe down! They might hear you," ordered Malcolm another member of the team.

"And what if they do? How can you be so calm? Can't you understand what it's like waking up alone in this place?" Questioned Yuji.

Marlene stood quit for a moment and then spoke.

"It's unknown how long the Blue have actually existed. The first confirmed sighting came in 2017. That was fourteen years ago."

After hearing this, Yuji and Cissnei calmed down and listened. Then Marlene continued with her story, "At first it was thought that they were a biological weapon that some rouge nation had developed, but we soon learned that they were very different." After pausing for a moment she continued, "Their ecology shattered all of our current conceptions about biology. After that point, they not only fed on organic matter but inorganic matter as well, turning it all into functional energy. When modern civilization was at its peak, they must have found this world to be the perfect feeding ground. Almost in a blink of an eye the Earth was overrun and turned into a planet of death. I suppose to them humans where merely an annoyance like insects crawling on their food. By themselves our bodies are a minuscule source of energy for them so they wrap us in tight cocoons. When the number is large enough, they feed," she concluded.

Yuji and Cissnei gazed in horror at a green balls and gulped.

"But the Blue do more than eat and multiply every time we try to attack them they change like to evolve to protect themselves," explained Joey.

"The battle lasted longer then we have anticipated and people began to gradually run out of places to hide. The Blue had turned the planet into their nesting grounds and there was no choice but to escape into outer space," continued Marlene.

"Outer space?" inquired Yuji.

"That is where we live now beyond our orbiting satellites in a space station called Second Earth," finished Marlene.

While the conversation was going on outside, inside the truck Minnie was talking through the radio to their leaders.

"Sleepers recovered seven names: Yuji Kito, Cissnei Hurdara, Cody Richardson, Sauke Uchia, Kamica Moshra, Tyson Yamato, Jin Lee."

"With the exception of these seven, the rest of the sleeper population was lost to the Blue," said Minnie.

"Our team has suffered losses. We lost two members in the recovery," she continued her report, "Requesting instructions with rendezvous point with recovery vehicle. Our location is J.P.E 204."

"Coordinates have been sent and received. We await for your arrival over and out," replied Command.

"Copy that. Transmission terminated," answered Minnie.

While this was going on, Keith who had always had feelings for Minnie, had taken off his armor and now snuck up on her. In the past they had shared an interest in each other. He gently removed her armor leaving her only showing her chest. Putting his hands under her arms he gently began to rub them up and down her breasts then planted a kiss on her neck.

"Heehee stop it you animal," she giggled at the affection her boyfriend showed for her.

Back outside, Marlene began once again. "The surviving humans organized themselves into combat units to resist the Blue, the higher command began to research on how to exterminate these creatures and in 2031 Second Earth finally began operations to take back the planet," finished Marlene.

"So what your saying is saving me, Cissnei and the others was all part of the plan?" questioned Yuji

"Saving you?" said Marlene in a cold way. "You two have got it all wrong. You two and the others just happened to be the samples we recovered. It's nothing more than that," she finished in her steely tone.

"What Samples?" asked Cissnei.

"Our orders are very specific to wait for the recovery vehicle and travel to a spaceport and return to the station," explained Marlene.

After pausing for a brief moment she asked them a question. "So have you two heard enough?"

"Have heard enough? What are you crazy?" blurted Yuji

"This is nuts. Who's the one who gave you that order? Why do we have to go into outer space with you and what do you people want?" demanded Cissnei.

"You won't be getting those answers from me. That's your problem," Marlene said in a cold, uncaring way.

Walking forwarded Yuji grabbed Marlene and shouted in her face. "No, didn't you hear her? She wants answers NOW!" he shouted.

"Listen, Yuji and I went to sleep to cure our illness. Why couldn't your team just leave us alone? If we had known, it would turn out like this, I would have…" she began.

"You would have rather died, is that it?" cut in Marlene

Robert overheard this and was about to step in when his wrist bracelet flashed red.

"There's a Blue out there! Everyone to your stations!" he commanded.

Out of a building came a hissing Blue that had pincers.

Braking free of Yuji, Marlene ran for the truck. Just before entering, she turned to them and spoke. "If you two want to die, I won't stop you but first it's my duty to make sure that the both of you get up to the space station. Until then, I'd appreciate if you both stayed alive." With that, she entered the truck.

"So what have we got?" asked Chris as he fired.

"It's a Chopper, Kid," said Malcolm as he fired.

"Pin it down!" yelled Katharine.

Keeping up an intense barrage, the Blue could not move. It hissed as it tried to figure out which one to attack. Suddenly one of the trucks doors opened as the doubled piloted Shrike prepared to attack. Keith quickly pulled back on his shirt. Then he grabbed the controls, smiled and awaited the attack.

"Time to run a systems check?" said Joey his eyes afire with battle lust.

"Will have to take are chances," replied Keith as he maneuvered it forward.

The Shrike moved forward and got right in front of the Blue. In a flash, it grabbed its pincers and forced it to the ground. As it struggled to brake free another door opened and Marlene's Shrike entered the fight. Marlene aimed her gun and fired. The blast hit the Chopper's core and exploded. Yuji and Cissnei just stared in shock at what had just transpired.

The next day the team was on the move. Yuji, Cissnei, Marlene, Malcolm and Robert sat in the jeep. While Katharine drove the tuck carrying Minnie, Joey, Keith, Chris and the other sleepers. There was a sudden beep and Marlene looked at her wrist communicator. She then looked up and saw a strange jet above them. Yuji shielded his eyes to watch the jet descend. On board the jet, Yuji and Cissnei began to nostalgically hum a song that had once been very popular in their time. As Yuji looked out the window he gasped.

"Cissnei you may want to look at this," he said as his lips began to tremble.

Cissnei looked out the window and began to shake with fear. The once buzzing metropolis was now in ruins. Most of buildings were destroyed and some other larger building now had huge nest on them.

"Have I really been asleep four 22 years? Even after all that time my mom and dad wouldn't be that old and they still could be alive?" thought Cissnei

Yuji was thinking along the very same lines about his parents. His thoughts then turned to his best friend, Takeshi.

"Knowing Takeshi, he is probably riding around out there somewhere," he thought miserably.

A few hours later, the air jet began its descent to an island airport. The airport was now a hive of activity. Several trucks began to move to a spaceship and load up sleeper capsules. Standing guard over the proceedings were four armor shrikes. Two were red and the other two were tan. The ship Yuji was on landed gently down. Then the two of its compartments opened up. Out of the left end came the truck and from the right end came the jeep. Cissnei and Yuji gazed around before Cissnei asked a question.

"So Robert, why this airport? Why here?" she asked

"One reason is that Blue don't swim, at least as far as we know. So out at sea all we have to worry about is Blue attacking from the air, Cissnei." answered Robert.

Yuji gazed up at the sky when suddenly Robert's shout brought him back to reality.

"We're behind schedule. Load that transport into the cargo holds as it is," ordered Robert to Katharine.

Katharine gave him a thumb up and increased speed. Robert then got back into his seat. While inside the truck Keith wasn't so happy.

"It looks like were riding with the luggage again," he said moodily.

"Don't be so gloomy Keith," said Chris.

"Shut up!" yelled Keith.

"Hey Cissnei," asked Yuji, as a fork lifter carried several sleepers out of a jet.

"Sleepers like you and Cissnei recovered from other areas. There were a number of similar facilities all over the country," answered Marlene.

"Hey stop this car stop now," yelled Yuji and Cissnei in unison.

Malcolm put his foot on the brakes and the jeep came to a halt. Cissnei and Yuji jumped from it and headed to the sleeper capsules.

"Come back here now!" Robert yelled after them

Yuji and Cissnei did not listen.

We're not the only ones who were here brought after all, they thought as they ran towards the capsules.

Marlene got out and took off after them. Robert then turned to Malcolm and said, "Move out!" and then drove on.

Suddenly and without warning, the ground gave a lurch, slamming Yuji and Cissnei to the ground.

"What's that?" yelled Robert

Suddenly cracks stared to form where Katharine was and the truck began to sink into the ground. Katharine tried to back out but more ground gave way causing her to slam her head into the glass. Blood splattered against the windshield and Katherine lay motionless. As the ground further gave way, inside the truck Minnie lost her balance and cracked her head against the wall. In the back, Chris was trying to secure the sleeper capsules when one fell lose and crushed this hand.

Chris pulled his crushed and bloodied hand from the capsules. Ignoring the pain, he ran up to the front of the truck to check if his sister, Katharine, and Minnie were okay. To his horror, when he got to the front Chris saw that his sister and comrade-in-arms were both dead. Chris removed his sister's body from the seat and closed her eyes. He then laid her down gently to the floor. He did the same for Minnie. Then the grief became too much for him and he broke down and cried.

Meanwhile, on the back of the truck, Keith yelled, "Hey ease up!" The truck lurched about.

Outside the ground began crumble and out of it came a giant beetle.

"What the…?" started Robert as it hissed.

"It's a Blue," said a flabbergasted Marline.

Quickly the four armor shrikes roared into action. The two red armor shrikes charged the attacker, while the two tan ones turned and got ready to attack.

From inside truck, Joey saw what was going on and cursed.

"Oh shit!"

"What the hell is going on up there?" yelled Keith

"We got a Blue!" Chris yelled to Keith as he clutched his broken hand.

"What how did they get here?" asked Keith

"There's no time. We gotta do something!" yelled Joey as the shrike roared to life. As they broke through, Keith saw the Blue.

"Ahhha!" he screamed as the monster hissed menacingly.

"Oh no," said Robert as he watched what was going from the jeep. He turned his head to Malcolm and began to issues an order. "Malcolm get over there now!" he roared

"I'm on it Chief," he replied as jeep drove forward.

Suddenly the two tan armor shrikes fired two cables from their arms. Likewise, the two red ones did also. The cables attached to its hide and held fast.

"How are they coming at us from sea?" Marlene muttered obvious puzzlement.

Marlene saw Yuji and Cissnei as they stood just outside the battle zone, routed to the spot with terror.

"Damn them," Marline swore has she ran over to the panic-stricken teens.

"Snap out of it, come you two! come on," she yelled.

This snapped Yuji out of his fear and into action. "That's right Cissnei, we've got to wake the others."

"Right," she replied

Yuji and Cissnei quickly ran over to the forklift just as the driver dismounted and ran to get a weapon.

Meanwhile the armor shrikes were having difficulty holding the Blue. It hissed as it tried to break free from its captors. Joey and Keith were having trouble trying to get free from the truck.

"Will you quit dicking around up there!" hollered Keith.

"The trailer is lurching around too much. We're stuck!" Joey yelled back as Keith

Meanwhile Cissnei and Yuji had just reached the fork lift. Yuji and Cissnei stared to bang uselessly against it.

"Wake up!" yelled Yuji as he pounded a sleeper capsule.

"Wake up, come on you got to get out of there or you're all be dead!" screamed Cissnei

"What are you two doing? Get away from there NOW!" Marlene hollered.

"No way, Cissnei and I have had enough of being alone in this freaking place. Do you understand me?" he yelled.

Cissnei slammed both of her fists against the sleeper capsule and screamed, "I don't care who you are. Please just wake up!" she cried

Marlene had enough. Grabbing Yuji she pulled him right in front of her and slapped him.

"You two have got to stop. This is hopeless. We cannot resituate them down here!" she said in a harsh voice

Then she switched it to a gentler voice. "Come on," she beckoned.

Yuji and Cissnei took a look at the sleeper capsules when suddenly a shadow fell over them. Looking up, Cissnei and Yuji saw what looked like a giant, flying preying mantis flying overhead.

At the same time, inside the ship, two pilots were starting the take-off sequence when the monster flew at the cockpit. Extending one of its razor-sharp claws, it smashed them into the cockpit. Blood splattered all over the glass as one of the pilots was impaled.

Down below, the ground continued to give way even more as another tank beetle emerged. Near the two red armored shrikes, the ground shifted, causing the shrike with the gun to lose balance. As it stepped back, it crushed the jeep that Malcolm and Robert were in. Robert and Malcolm gazed in shock as the metal foot came down and crushed the jeep along with Malcolm. Robert was ejected from the jeep and landed on the runway before coming to a grinding stop. The shrikes were having trouble restraining the tank beetle as it struggled to free itself from its captors.

Meanwhile, back at the truck, Joey and Keith had gotten free. "Chris where's Minnie and Katharine?" Keith yelled.

"There both dead!" sobbed Chris as tears ran down his face.

"What? Minnie? NO!"

Keith turned to the tank beetle, his eyes full of hate.

"Joey get me in closer to that thing. We can't shoot it but we can still use our arms to smash this bastard!" He roared.

"Keith, man I don't know?" said a worried Joey.

"Shut up and do it. This monster is going to pay for what it did to Minnie!" He thundered

"Alright," he said.

Switching to attack mode the shrike roared to life and charged the Blue.

"This one is for you, Minnie!" Keith yelled as the shrike closed in on its target.

Turing around the Blue roared as the shrikes arm came flying to it. Extending one of its claws, it rammed and pierced the shrike's armor. At the same time, the mechanical arm slammed into its core, killing the thing. Joey felt the air leave his lungs as the claw slammed into the shrike. Quickly he pulled out the arm and retreated from the Blue. The monster fell to the ground with a thud. Suddenly two more tank beetles appeared, causing the forklift where Marlene, Yuji and Cissnei were to collapse.

"We have to get out of here! Move!" yelled Marlene

Running over, Cissnei tried to pick up one of the sleeper capsules.

"Yuji, give me a hand here!" she called

Yuji quickly ran over and grabbed the other end and together they pick it up. Inside the truck, Robert climbed into the driver's seat. Gathering what was left of his strengthen he kicked a hole through the glass while simultaneously starting the truck. Robert was in terrible shape. His left arm was broken and his face had a gash in it causing blood to cover his left eye. Driving the truck he backed it out of the hole and headed to Marlene, Cissnei and Yuji. Joey followed along in hot pursuit. Yuji and Cissnei looked up to see Robert drive right beside them.

"Get in!" he ordered

Quickly Marlene, Cissnei and Yuji got in carrying in the sleeper capsule. In a flash, the truck was off again. The flying Blue saw what was going on and took off after them. As the Armored Shrike and truck raced for the open cargo holds on the retrieval ship, Chris gazed out and saw the Blue gaining on them.

"Man-eater coming at us from the rear!" he yelled.

The man-eater opened its many mouths and let out a hiss. Suddenly the truck's back opened and Marlene appeared with her Shrike at the ready; aiming the shrike's gun at the approaching monster. The first shot damaged one of its mandibles. The second shot hit the other. The third shot hit its core, causing it to explode. The creature fell to the ground with a final hiss.

Once entering the retrieval ship the engines gunned to life. Up in the cockpit Marlene was at the controls readying it for take off. Cissnei and Yuji came up to her.

"Hey, hold on a minute," began Cissnei.

Suddenly the ground caved in more. This caused the other sleeper capsule to sink in to the ground. Yuji gazed in horror.

"It can't be!" cried Cissnei.

"It can't!" sobbed Yuji.

Both of them broke down and started to cry. In a few minutes the ship was flying away from the destroyed airport. Gazing down Marlene instantly figured out why the Blue had been able to attack them.

"There, that's how they did it. They came through an underwater pipe." Looking down, Yuji and Cissnei saw Blue moving through an underwater pipe.

Meanwhile, in the cargo hold, Joey was crying.

"Keith, Minnie, Katharine," he sobbed.

"Joey," called a voice.

Looking up into the battered armored shrike Joey saw a badly damaged Keith.

"Don't worry Pal, I'll get you out of there," he said.

After freeing Keith, Joey examined him. All of Keith's ribs appeared to be broken and he was bleeding intensely.

"Where's Minnie?" he coughed

"She's dead," answered a crying Joey.

"NO!" yelled Keith

Braking free of Joey, Keith stood up and walked over to Minnie's body. Grabbing her tightly, he began to sob.

"Minnie! No, please don't leave me," cried Keith as he cradled her. With those words, Keith died.

Chris was holding Katharine's body, as he sobbed over the death of last family member.

Robert just sat in the driver's seat and grunted from the pain. In the cockpit Marlene flew on sadly. Yuji and Cissnei was still shocked by all of the death they had witnessed.

"If I known this was going to happen perhaps me and Cissnei would have been better of dead? No I won't go down without a fight. Not to them and I'll do anything to protect her," he thought to himself.

As they left the smoking airport behind them they failed to notice some strange ships heading towards it.


	3. Chapter 3: Trial

Episode 3 Trial

One day after the terrible loss at the island airport remnants of Marlene's team landed several miles inland. Inside the truck Joey tried to contact Second Earth. Chris and Cissnei were busy burying their dead comrades. Yuji was outside looking at a motorcycle that looked a lot like Takashi's bike.

Meanwhile back inside the truck, Joey was having trouble with radio.

"This is Far East Recovery Team do you copy? Headquarters do you copy?" The computer flashed showing it was searching. Several seconds passed and still nothing happened. The only response was static.

"Damn it!" cursed Joey

"This is useless the noise from those insect bastards is so high that's it interfering with are relay equipment. I've tried everything and I can't get a signal through," he reported.

"This recent surge in Blue activity as made recovery all over Japan hopeless. Where going to take an alternate route and use this vehicle to get us to Simanoseikl then procure a cargo ship and cross over to Korea. That's where we'll meet the recovery squad," concluded Robert.

Then he turned to Marlene.

"Do you think you can keep them off us until then?" he asked

Marlene nodded, looking out the window and saw Yuji standing out there.

Yuji's face had an angry appearance.

"If those bastards did anything to Takashi, I'll make them pay!" he vowed

Marlene walked up to him.

"Lets go," she ordered.

Yuji looked like he was about to argue until Cissnei showed up.

"Yuji we have to go," she said.

Yuji nodded and with that they got into the truck. Just before leaving, Marlene and Chris had argued about giving off a shot to honor the dead. Marlene was against it because the noise might attract the Blue. Finally, Marlene gave in and Chris fired four shots for Minnie, Keith, Katharine and Malcolm. With that the truck drove off leaving behind two graves. One read KEITH BEAN and MINNIE WHITE. While the other said KATHARINE STEEL.

As they drove on, Yuji and Cissnei were thinking of all the death they had seen. Images flashed in there minds from people in green balls to the bodies of Keith, Minnie and Katharine. Marlene and Chris were making sure their weapons were in prime condition. Yuji and Cissnei watched them clean them. Yuji gazed at the guns while Cissnei gazed at the Shrike. Then once again the images of the dead flashed through their minds. Yuji and Cissnei held their head in an attempt to block them out.

"You two okay?" asked Chris

Marlene looked at them. Suddenly her communicator light flashed red.

"Incoming," called Marlene as she calmly got up and prepared for battle.

Likewise Chris got up to. Making their way over to the gun rack Marlene and Chris loaded their guns.

"Guys it's a Blue," warned Marlene.

"What have we got?" asked Joey

"A man-eater," Chris said grimly as checked his gun.

Meanwhile outside the truck the Blue was gaining on them.

"Step on it!" ordered Robert as the monster got closer.

Putting his foot on the gas pedal, Joey increased speed. Looking out the side view mirror Robert grunted in frustration as the thing closed in. Once it was above the truck the man eater extended one of its claws and sliced a piece of the truck off. Yuji and Cissnei gazed in horror as the thing's head appeared.

"Stay down it's too dangerous," ordered Marlene as she prepared to do battle.

Climbing up to the hole, Marlene bravely faced the Blue. Opening its mouth the man eater hissed. Aiming her gun Marlene prepared to fire. The monster dove at her. Marlene fired. One of the shots hit its eye. Quickly closing its mouth, the thing backed up and zoomed left and right to avoid being hit. As it flew to the right Marlene fired a grenade and scored a direct hit on the beast.

Meanwhile inside the truck Yuji and Cissnei shook in fear. Gazing at the gun rack Yuji though, damn it I can't just sit here I have got to help them!

Grabbing one go the guns, Yuji ran over to an ammo crate to load it. Yuji's arms were jittering from nerves and he was having trouble loading it. Chris saw what he was doing.

"Hey kid put it down!" he ordered.

Outside the truck the man eater took a swipe at Marlene. The truck jolted from the impact and caused Yuji to fall. Gazing upwards Yuji saw Marlene fall. Yuji straight out his hands and caught her.

"Yuji look out!" screamed Cissnei

Looking up the through the hole Yuji gazed in horror. The man eater was now on the truck. Quickly Robert and Joey looked back. Yuji stood still ridged with fear. Poking its head through the hole the thing hissed.

"This insect is really starting to bug me!" yelled Chris as he fired.

Cutting loose, Chris blasted it's other eye out. Hissing with rage the monster stuck one of its claws in and took a swipe at him. Though the blade missed him the thing knocked him into the sleeper capsules. Just as he was about to get up, the capsules fell on top of him knocking him out. Cissnei ran over to and was about to shoot when she got knock out as well.

"Cissnei no!" Yuji screamed

Suddenly the truck shook more as the man eater pulled its head through the hole. Joey and Robert looked back and saw what was going on. Yuji gazed in terror as the monster opened its mouth and hissed. Suddenly the truck drove into a tunnel. Joey maneuvered the truck close the wall scraping it against the wall. Joey gazed outside the window and saw that the monster was still holding on and not letting go.

"It's still hanging on? Get off my back!" he yelled swerving the truck against the wall

This caused part of the man eater's abdomen to brake off. The monster hissed in pain but still clung on. Yuji screamed as the thing got closer and closer. Just as the monster prepared to attack, gunfire suddenly split the air. Several shots hit the monster until one hit its core. Gazing around, Yuji saw Marlene awake still holding the pistol she had used to kill the thing. When the truck came to a grinding stop, the carcass of the monster fell to the ground with a thud. Chris and Cissnei regained consciousness. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank God," said a relieved Joey.

Robert let out a deep sigh.

Meanwhile back inside the truck Marlene was checking the weapons.

"Hey are you okay?" asked a worried Yuji .

Marlene still cleaned her weapons taking no concern of Yuji worry.

"I thought I told you two to stay down," she said

"We just wanted to help," said Cissnei

"Are you sure that you're prepared to do that?"

Turning on the two sleepers, she began to berate them.

"This isn't a game we're playing. There's no room for amateurs here!" she said frostily.

Placing her gun on the rack, Marlene left to check on the others. Chris followed suit. He gave Yuji and Cissnei a sorry look and left. Yuji and Cissnei remained seated, still stung by the rebuke. Yuji's face tightened in anger and Cissnei's thoughts were in a whirl.

"Amateurs, I'll show her!" she thought darkly.

Night had fallen and the team was near an abandon school. Yuji and Cissnei were outside talking with Marlene.

"Training?" she asked in disbelieve.

"Right now we're just excess baggage to you. Why don't you teach us what we need to know so we can fight too," Yuji pleaded.

"Do you two understand what it is your asking for?" said Joey.

"I know you think we're amateurs but we are ready to learn," answered Cissnei.

"I hate that I can't do anything and I don't want to get killed by one of those things!" stated Yuji.

"You have to let us fight. We're not babies and we can pull our own weight," said Cissnei.

"No way!" Marlene cut in sharply.

"But," began Yuji.

"My duty is to deliver you and the other sleepers to the space station and I intend to see you get there alive. I will not let the two of you jeopardize this mission," she stated firmly.

Yuji and Cissnei turned their backs on Marlene. While this was going on Joey took a quick look at Robert in his bandages and Chris who's arm was still crushed.

"Come on, it couldn't hurt to give them both a chance would it?" he said.

Yuji, Cissnei and Marlene turned to him.

"After all Robert's in bad shape and Chris is an infantry man. Without an arm pilot our fighter isn't going to do us a whole lot of good if we get into trouble," he stated.

Chris agreed with Joey.

"I'm with him on this one. I'm an infantry not an Armor shrike pilot. It would be better if the kids knew how to fight," he agreed.

"If I take the time to teach them how to drive the Mecha Suit and you and Chris teach them how to shoot, it could only help us," he concluded.

Marlene got up and looked at them.

"Say yes," pleaded Yuji.

Marlene stared at Yuji, Cissnei, Joey, Chris and back to Yuji. Marlene let out a sigh.

"Alright but you only have three days to get it done," She warned.

"Ha, ha, you won't be sorry," said satisfied Yuji.

Smiling, Joey walked over to Yuji and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Good," he said.

The next day began the training of Yuji and Cissnei. Yuji and Cissnei walked over to two empty oil drums and lifted their hands like a gun and aimed at them.

"Hey," called Marlene as she walked over with Chris.

Marlene wandered over to Yuji while Chris walked over to Cissnei. Both of them handed the students the pistols. Pistols in hand, they aimed at their targets.

"Now get ready," Marlene ordered him.

Yuji got into a firing stance and aimed his pistol.

"That's wrong, you're too far forward," she told him.

Yuji changed his position.

"No, don't aim with your finger," she told him.

Yuji tried again.

"Not like that!" she shouted

Angrily Yuji whirled around.

"Hey I'm trying aren't I!" he yelled back with frustration.

Marlene got behind Yuji grabbed him under his arms. Something rubbed against his back causing him to blush and nearly faint.

"Come on get into position," she ordered

Out of the corner of his eye he saw what had rubbed against his back. This caused sweet cover his face. Marlene was growing impatient and her voice snapped him back to reality.

"Feel that? Get yourself accustom to that," she ordered.

Gulping, Yuji regained his senses and took aim, getting into the position Marlene had ordered.

Stepping back, she noticed that he had the right posture.

"There, that's it. Do you think you can remember it?"

Yuji nodded and again took aim.

After their session with Marlene and Chris on how to handle a gun, it was time to learn how to drive an Armor Shrike.

While Joey moved the Shrike into position in front of a jungle gym, Cissnei was having trouble adjusting her suit.

"Don't worry the suit will compensate for you on the finer touches," informed Joey.

"Just concentrate on your aim and your timing. Practice makes perfect," he reminded her.

"Right," she replied.

"The most fundamental thing to remember is no matter what don't close your eyes. Do you understand?"

"Yeah sure," she replied as she griped the controls.

"That jungle gym is 30 meters away. Punch the controls and you'll get a feel for it."

"Ready? Let's go!"

The rear wheels came out of the Shrike's rear quarters and with a roar it headed for its target. Wind zoomed by Cissnei's face as the distance between them and the target shrunk. Just as they were about to make contact, Cissnei shut her eyes. Joey then veered the Shrike away. Cissnei was breathing hard from her ride sweat covered her face.

"Damn, that's fast," said she fighting for her breath.

"Let's do it again," said Joey.

"Right!" she said.

After 3 days of hard training, Yuji and Cissnei were ready for any danger they may face.

The truck zoomed down the road driving toward the port. Arriving at the port, Yuji and Cissnei were not surprised to see that it lay in ruins. The harbor was littered with half sunken ships with only a few still in one piece. While Robert and his team were looking for suitable ship, Yuji and Joey were training in the Armor Shrike at the crate loading area. Standing in front of a loading hook, Yuji got ready for another training exercise.

"Keep your eyes open as you punch through," muttered Yuji as he squinted his eyes at the target.

"Let's go!" said Joey

Shifting into gear, the Shrike took off like a shot. As the target came into view, Yuji was about to close his eyes when he stopped them. Swinging the Shrikes left arm, it made contact with the chain holding the hook. The steel chains holding them together shattered into a million pieces. With nothing to hold the hook, it fell to the ground and sank into the pavement.

"We hit it," gasped a surprised Yuji.

"I think you've got a knack for this," said Joey smiling.

"We hit!" yelled Yuji.

Suddenly the radio came to life.

"This is Marlene. We found a suitable boat. Assemble at Pier 10 and hurry, we don't want the Blue to find us," she ordered.

"We're on our way," informed Joey.

Switching the Shrike into gear, they headed toured Pier 10. Pier 10 was a mess. Most of the warehouses were in pieces while a few others were covered in Blue nests. The boat was an old cargo vessel. Its color was black with a red line running around it. Inside the ships center room Joey was busy looking over the ship's computer.

"Well it's quite the antique; luckily the computer hasn't died just yet. With a little maintenance, I should have it up and running soon," Joey informed Robert.

"So how long will it take?" asked Robert?

"I could have it up by tomorrow morning," Joey replied.

"You have until morning understood?" said Robert

"Yes sir!" saluted Joey before turning back to the computer.

Robert then turned to Marlene, Yuji and Cissnei.

"And Marlene the three of you can get back to your duties," informed them.

"Yes sir!" she replied Yuji and Cissnei followed her.

Lastly Robert turned to Chris.

"Chris you keep watch, understood?"

"Yes sir!" said Chris

Grabbing his gun, Chris walked out of the room leaving Joey and Robert alone.

Meanwhile Marlene, Cissnei and Yuji were near one of the demolished warehouses. Yuji and Cissnei hopped off the Shrike while Marlene gave them orders.

"I'll continue with century duty for the time being, Yuji and Cissnei, I want you together the materials we will need."

Yuji gaped as his eyes grew wide.

"What's wrong?" asked Marlene.

"Nothing," said Yuji as he rubbed his nose.

"It's just the first time you called me and Cissnei by our names," he replied.

"It would be inconvenient not to," said Marlene in her usual cold manner as the Shrike got up and left the two of them.

Yuji humphed, then he and Cissnei went into the workshop. It was now night time and Cissnei and Yuji had just gotten back from looking for supplies. Yuji and Cissnei walked down the hall each carrying a bag of their findings. Yuji tossed a can up in the air and caught it. Yuji continued to walk down the hall until he heard a song and stopped.

"Yuji what's…" began Cissnei until she heard the song too.

It was a song that had been very popular back in their time. The sound was coming from a room with a light on.

They looked at each other and headed down the hall towards it. Entering the room, they found Joey working on the computer, humming the melody. Cissnei and Yuji entered the room. Looking up, Joey saw them.

"Hey, you two need something?" he asked.

"It's just that song," replied Cissnei.

"How do you know it?" she asked.

"It was pretty popular with the guy in my class," he replied.

Turning back to the circuit board, Joey continued.

"I guess I've always liked it," he said

Joey went back to work, humming. Yuji put the bag down and sat on a bench.

"Your right, I've always liked that song too."

"Really?" asked Joey.

"Yeah, I remember when it first came out," replied Yuji.

"Oh yeah, I guess it's a pretty old one," said Joey.

"It was on all the time. I remember my mom, my dad and everyone in my town loved that song," Yuji reflected as he stared out at the moon. "It reminds me of a friend I once had. We'd promise no matter how many years passed, we'd meet again. So the last thing I want to do is break my promise by dieing. No matter what, I can't go getting killed now with my face full tears." Yuji said his full of determination.

"Ahhuh," said Joey.

"Hey I wouldn't mind hearing that song again, do you mind?" asked Yuji.

Joey began to hum the tune. Suddenly Yuji became alert.

"No, I think that part there is different,"

"Which part?" inquired Joey

"It's like this," said Yuji and he began to hum his version.

"Yuji's right," said Cissnei who joined in.

Picking up the beat, Joey joined in. The singing was beautiful. The song flew up to the night sky.

The next day the team got ready to move out.

"The repairs are complete sir," informed Joey.

"Prepare for departure. Marlene you take watch," ordered Robert.

Yuji raced up the gangway while Chris drove the trunk on the loading pad. Marlene kept her eyes peeled to make sure the Blue wouldn't take them by surprise. Suddenly her scanner beeped.

"Robert I have a contact!" she informed.

"How they sniff us out so damn fast?" said Robert from the ships command deck.

Joey looked at a scanner to figure out how many there were.

"I'm reading three, no four of them. There are four of them!" Joey yelled.

"Intercept! Marlene, I want you on tactical command. Move it! Chris, Cissnei, you stay here with me and guard the ship!" Robert ordered.

"Alright, this is it!" said Yuji as he headed for the truck.

Marlene began to give orders as her Shrike raced to face the enemy.

"Yuji, Joey it looks like three of the four are coming at us from the air. I want you to take the one that's on land that's off our right flank. Just try to keep it contained until I shoot down the others. Yuji I want you to use extreme caution." she ordered.

"Alright," he said in annoyed voice.

"It's not as easy to kill one of these Blue as you think. Don't go and do anything stupid," she warned.

"Right, we got it,"

Taking cover next to one of the crates, Marlene prepared for battle.

"Commencing attack," roared Marlene.

"Were off to," said Joey as the Shrike took off.

Kneeling down, Marlene aimed her Shrike's gun at the sky. She then slammed down her helmet visor and prepared to face the enemy. Soon, three man-eaters flew overhead. Gun fire split the air three times. There was a hiss as one of the man-eaters fell to the ground. The dead monster landed with a thud next to Marlene. She quickly got up and charged the two remaining ones. The other man-eaters charged Marlene, roaring. Meanwhile Yuji and Joey were looking for the other Blue. Yuji's face was covered in sweat as his eyes shifted from left to right, looking for the enemy.

I can do this. I know I can. I've had enough practice now, Yuji reassured himself. If I keep my cool I can beat this thing. Alright where's that son of a bitch hiding? It's got to be hiding around here somewhere. Where is it? Come on out come out!

"Yuji," called Joey. Yuji didn't respond.

Come out! Yuji thought not paying attention to Joey.

"Yuji!" yelled Joey.

Joey's voice snapped Yuji out of his thoughts.

"Don't get so wound up. Try to stay calm," Joey advised.

"I'm staying calm," Yuji snapped.

"Just don't force it" Joey warned.

"Yeah I know," Yuji said angrily.

Suddenly the monitor went wild beeping several times.

"Above us!" yelled Joey.

Looking up, Yuji saw the monster coming down on them. The monster was a Man-Eater Type 2. Its body was like a spider but with four legs and two long arms. At the end of these arms were hooks. Where its mouth should have been was instead its core. Landing with a thud where the Shrike was, it turned and came at Yuji and Joey was tremendous speed. Yuji was scared out of his wits. Suddenly the monster lashed out with its long claw. Closing his eyes. Yuji made the Shrike lean to one side and extend one of its hands and blocked the claw. Using the other one, he slammed the metallic hand into the Blue's face. The Shrike shook as the monster pushed the hand away from its face. Suddenly the top of its head opened up to reveal its mouth lined with sharp teeth.

"Oh no gasped!" gasped Yuji.

"Yuji!" warned Joey.

Extending its other claw the Man-Eater prepared for another strike. Joey tried to get out of it reach but it was too late. The Blue's arm shot out and cut the Shrike's right arm off. Off balance, the Shrike crashed to the ground. The force of the land knocked Joey out. Yuji was still conscience. The Blue walked over to it fallen prey and started to hit the Shrike's back in an attempted to get at Joey and Yuji.

"NO, NO, NO!" cried Yuji as the Shrike shook from the force of the Man-Eater's blows.

Yuji screamed in panic as the creature's attack redoubled. Suddenly he had flashback to Marlene's cold words. Are you sure that you're prepared to do that? This isn't a game we've got no room for amateurs here!

No I'm not going to die here! Yuji yelled inside his mind with cold determination.

"I will live!" Yuji yelled as he used the Shrike's dwindling power to grab the chain and hook. Yelling with the cry to live, Yuji looped the chain around the Blue's head and thrust the hook into the giant abomination's left eye. The monster screeched with pain as it tried to remove the hook from its eye. It blindly struck at the Shrike. Yuji screamed in panic as the hooked claw sank into the Shrike's only remaining arm and short-circuited.

Marlene was having better luck firing at a downed Man-Eater. She shot once into its head, then a second time. Finally, during her third attempt, she blew out its core. Blood splattered onto the ground when the core was destroyed. The other Man-Eater was already dead. Marlene quickly got up and rushed to assist Yuji and Joey. The Man-Eater tried to free its claw as the circuits inside shocked it. Finally it wrenched its claw free. The rip it had made in the Shrike's arm smoked. Yuji grabbed the control stick and tried to move the Shrike, but it was useless. The power was gone and the Shrike couldn't move. Looking up Yuji saw the man-eater looking down at him. It had freed itself from the chain and removed the hook. It seemed to look angrily as it gazed at him. Raising it's right claw it prepared to strike. Yuji shrived in fear as the monster readied to end his life.

As it brought its claw down, gunfire shattered the air. Two shots impacted into the creature's skull causing the claw to hit the Shrike's arm. The Blue hissed as it turned to face the new threat. It was Marlene. The Shrike came rocketing down the walkway shooting shot after shot at the Blue. It shot again and again. The first shot hit it's head. The next one completely destroyed the Blue's core. The monster collapsed face first, dead. Marlene lowered her gun and went over to her comrades. Yuji had blacked out.

Yuji opened his eyes as he heard voices.

"If we keep going at this pace, we should arrive at the Korean coast by sometime tomorrow," said Marlene.

"Let's hope so," replied Robert.

"Well good morning sleeping beauty," said Chris as he watched Yuji rise.

"What's this?" asked Yuji as he stared out the window, seeing the ocean.

"It's alright. We're meeting the Korean Recovery Squad," Robert informed him.

"Is Joey…?" began Yuji.

"Joey's down below with Cissnei making repairs to the damaged fighter," said Robert.

"Yuji, you can go join them," offered Chris.

"Okay thanks Chris," said Yuji as he got up, leaving the three of them in the control room. Before leaving, Yuji looked at Marlene steering the ship with Robert standing next to her. Robert watched him go, then returned to watching the sea. Marlene looked where Yuji had been for a second and then went back to her duties. Down below, Joey and Cissnei were working on the damaged Shrike.

"Cissnei could you pass me that wrench?" he asked.

"Sure," she said.

Looking down at the tool box, she couldn't find the wrench. Suddenly Joey felt something in his hand. Looking up, she saw Yuji smiling at him. Cissnei saw him and smiled too. Joey nodded his head in thanks and then went back to work. Yuji walked over and started to hum their song. Cissnei joined in. Soon, all three of them were humming. The three of them hummed together in harmony as they worked on the repairing the Armored Shrike.


	4. Chapter 4: Agony

Episode 4 Agony

The next day they finally arrived at Seoul, South Korea. The harbor was littered with a few sunken, dilapidated ships. After docking the ship everyone disembarked. On the dock, the others waited for Joey to drop the trailer from the ship. Yuji supported Robert who was still recovering from his wounds. Marlene, Chris and Cissnei did guard duty. Chris gazed down the dock and noticed a large cloud of dust. Suddenly a Blue came at them. This Blue looked like a worm. It had six red eyes. Also the monster had four large fangs inside its mouth. It had some kind of flaps on the sides of its head. It's brain core was above its mouth.

"Time to move!" yelled Chris as the monster drew closer.

Marlene, Chris, and Cissnei cocked their guns as the thing drew closer. Joey saw the monster approaching quickly and sped up the process of lowering the trailer. Smashing its tail that looked like a mace into ground, it charged towards the crane Joey was in.

Joey released the control stick and the trailer crashed to the ground with a thud. He jumped from the operating room just in time. The monster crashed into the operating room. Yuji helped Robert in while Cissnei got in as well. Joey moved into the driver's seat. As the hellish creature moved to free itself, Chris opened fire blowing out one of its eyes.

Inside the truck, Yuji gently put Robert down while Joey got ready to drive. Marlene and Chris entered while Chris continued to shoot at the monster. Joey put his foot on the gas pedal and sped off. A moment later, the monster jumped on the spot they had been just seconds before. The Blue hissed as it's prey escaped.

"Woohoo! Those Blue sure don't waste time saying hello, do they? But did you see the way I jumped out of that crane? Talk about timing!" bragged Joey as they raced down the highway, avoiding the pot holes.

"Yeah I saw it," replied Yuji.

"Don't get cocky Joey," warned Chris as he cleaned his gun.

"By the way, Chris that was some excellent shooting," complemented Cissnei. "Too bad you didn't kill it."

"Thanks Cissnei. If I had, that would have been one less Blue and the Earth would be a better place," sighed Chris.

"But it will probably die from the lead in its system," said Chris absent mildly.

"Joey, keep your eyes on the road," ordered Marlene as she examined her communicator.

"Alrighty then," agreed Joey as he turned back to driving the truck.

"Marlene?" questioned Robert.

Marlene turned to face Robert as he asked, "Have you identified that Blue?"

"It's here. It's in our data on the Korean zone." said Marlene as she showed the group a picture of the ugly monster that had attacked them. "It's a Spring Worm type. It's a ground-based variety. Its core is on the front of its head." She finished. The monster was an ugly looking specimen. The creature also had two large tusks, one on each side of its mouth. In addition it had ten legs on each side.

Robert shut his eyes as he relayed orders. "Let's keep away from them. Our goal is to make contact with the Seoul Recovery Squad and not to be drawn into a fight."

Marlene nodded her head. Yuji gazed outside the window and saw the city in ruins like in Japan. Soon they arrived at the Seoul Sleeper facility. Inside they found to their horror two destroyed Amor Shrikes and several green balls. Joey, Marlene and Yuji searched for survivors while Cissnei and Chris stood guard outside with Robert.

"Hey Marlene, it looks like there are no survivors from the recovery squad or the sleepers," Joey informed miserably.

"Then let's move out. There's nothing we can do," said Marlene.

"Damn it!" growled Yuji.

Just as they were about to leave they heard a groan. Immediately, Yuji raced over to where one of the destroyed shrikes to find an injured A.S pilot.

"Hang on, you'll be okay," said Joey as he helped him up.

"Capsule Number 23 is still waiting to be opened," said the injured man before he passed out.

"While Joey tended to the man's wounds, Yuji went over to open the storage locker where the capsule read Number 23. To his relief, he found a Sleeper still inside. The sleeper was a beautiful young teenage girl with long brown hair. Yuji saw that the girl had a locket with a picture imprinted on it with her as a child and presumably her father and mother behind her. Yuji felt a wave of sympathy for the girl, knowing that her parents were probably dead.

"Let's get the data from the computers to identify the girl, get the injured soldier and leave," ordered Marlene.

The soldier's name was Lee Jin and he was a Shrike Pilot. The girl's name was Soon-Yi Cho. As they drove on, Robert asked Lee about the rendezvous point for the Korean Squads. Lee sadly informed Robert with his squad wiped out, the other Koreans squads had already been extracted and the pick-up site would be deserted.

"Alright, we'll have to find another way of contacting them. Unless we can inform them that we've survived we will soon be stranded down here," he said grimly.

"If we can locate a communication facility and its satellite uplink is still intact, we may be able to get through, unless of course we can secure the location."

Yuji looked at his feet. Again the Blue had butchered another recovery squad leaving behind only a pilot and a sleeper. Now they were stuck trying to find another way to safety.

Suddenly Yuji heard a dog barking. "Joey, Joey you've got to stop! I heard something!" he yelled.

As they drove across the bridge, Yuji heard the barking once more, only this time Cissnei heard it too.

"Joey, stop I heard it too!" she yelled.

Looking out the window, Yuji and Cissnei saw small girl with brown dog. "Joey, come on man, stop this thing! There's someone down there!" yelled Cissnei

As they continued to drive, Yuji and Cissnei saw to their horror a Spring Worm menacing the girl. It wasn't as big as the one they encountered at the dock, but still deadly.

"Blue!" cried Yuji.

Yuji turned around to see Joey trying to ignore the scene. "Yuji, Cissnei pay no attention." ordered Marlene as she got to the front.

"What the…? What are you talking about?" yelled Cissinei.

Down below, the thing hissed as it prepared to strike. The girl backed up in horror as the thing drew closer. Up in the truck Yuji saw Marlene looking down the road without paying the slightest bit of attention. Robert shut his eyes. Lee just looked at his wounds. Only Chris had a trace of pity in his eyes. Yuji and Cissinei looked at each other and nodded. They both got up and head for the door. Joey looked up just in time to see Yuji jump out the door. "What the HELL?" he yelled as he slammed his foot on the brakes. Cissinei was about to follow Yuji when Robert roared. "Chris, stop her!" Chris grabbed Cissinei just before she could jump.

Meanwhile, down below the girl's dog barked once more at the Blue before snarling and jumped on the Spring Worm. The dog then sank its teeth into the monster's lower lip. Unfortunately the monster was too strong. It flung the offending dog away and focused on the girl. The girl gasped as her dog was hurt. She looked at the monster and braced herself for death. The monster opened its mouth with a hiss and was about to strike when… BANG!

Yuji had landed and opened fire. The Blue hissed in pain as blood poured from the wound Yuji had inflicted. The creature hissed and turned its attention on Yuji. The girl opened her eyes and gasped as the thing headed for Yuji.

BANG! BANG! Went the gun. Yuji hit the creature twice more. One shot thudded into its mouth while the other blew out an eye. But the creature kept coming. Yuji fired twice more. One missed and another hit again. Yuji backed up against the wall. He jumped out of the way just in time. The Spring Worm slammed into the wall, missing him. The girl gasped as the thing drew closer to Yuji. Blood was streaming from its wounds. Panicking, Yuji grabbed his gun, closed his eyes and fired away recklessly. The shots struck it's core. Blood exploded as the core was destroyed. The thing hissed one last time as a milky white substance came out of its pores. Its eyes dimmed as it died.

Yuji sighed with relief and looked over at the girl who sat on the ground paralyzed with shock. "Bark, Bark!" said the dog as it headed to the girl. The girl hugged it and then closed her eyes.

"Hey are you okay? That was a close one." said Yuji as he neared. The girl cringed as the dog growled at Yuji. "My name's Yuji. Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Yun," replied the girl as she looked down.

"Yun, huh? Well that's a real nice name." said Yuji just as the truck reached them. As the truck came to a stop, Yun shivered with fear. Out came an angry Joey and Marlene. Cissnei was relieved that Yuji and Yun were alive.

"Hey did you guy see what I did? I took that bug down!" bragged Yuji.

Marlene came over and slapped him. "You shouldn't have done that!" snapped Marlene

"The girl needed my help!" snapped Yuji

"Well now you put all of our lives in danger! Those gunshots you carelessly fired are going to draw more of the Blue to this location."

"I'm sorry but that girl, she need my…" began Yuji. Suddenly he turned around and saw that Yun had disappeared. "Yun!" he cried. The lot was empty. Only the dead Blue remained.

"Boom!" The air came alive with sound of Blue coming to the source of the noise. "Damn! Quick lets move their going to be here soon!" yelled Joey. Marlene glared at Yuji. "Getting out of this city just became harder thanks to you!" she growled. "Marlene, I think we're stuck here for a while. Let's find somewhere to hide." advised Joey. Marlene nodded, glared at Yuji, and headed for the trailer.

Inside the trailer everyone ignored him except Cissinei who asked him about the girl. "You said her name was Yun. What does she look like?" Cissinei asked.

Yuji explained, "She has pale skin, dark eyes, and two short black ponytails," he explained.

Up in the front, Joey and Marlene talked about their next step and about Yun. "If that little girl was playing around here then there must be a safe spot somewhere." he said.

Looking out the window, Joey spotted Yun. "Hey there she is!" he said. Yun and her dog were walking across a plank bridge to an island. Marlene noticed the thin planks and knew the trailer couldn't get across.

"We can't make it across with the Armor Shrikes" she said. Looking back, she saw an empty garage. "Joey, we'll have park the trailer in there," she said.

"Yeah I got it." With that, they backed-up the truck and sealed the garage door.

As they headed out the back door, Cissnei raised a question. "What about the Sleepers?" she asked.

"They will be safe," Marlene informed her. "Now let's move." As they crossed the bridge, Cissnei carried Lee while Yuji carried Robert. Marlene brought up the front, with a gun at the ready while Joey and Chris brought up the rear, keeping their eyes peeled. As they got to the other side they found the island filled with destroyed buildings. Marlene narrowed her eyes and ran forward. Looking left to right she found no sign of danger. From a dark corner Yun saw them and ran. She may have slipped past them if some rocks hadn't fallen, giving away her position. Turning to the noise they aimed there guns at the direction. Yuji saw Yun and her dog disappear.

"Joey, take him." said Yuji as he handed Robert to him. Cissnei did likewise, handing Lee to Chris. Both of them tore after Yun.

Marlene watched them go. "Yuji, Cissnei STOP!" she demanded. The two teenagers refused to listen. As they raced down the alleyway, what they saw both surprised and thrilled them. Standing before them were human survivors. "This is great Cissnei were not alone, there still some people left just like us," he smiled.

Together the two of them walked over to the survivors.

"Hello there," greeted Cissnei as she rested her hand on his shoulder.

Instead of returning the greeting, the man just glared at her. Yuji got between them and tried to calm the man down. "Hey, your worries are over. We're here now and everything is going to be okay," said Yuji, trying to reassure the man.

Instead of calming down, the other survivors just glared hatefully at him. Yuji frowned and stepped back. Cissnei also noticed the other survivors glaring at them. "What's the matter with all of you?" demanded Yuji.

"Yuji, Cissnei what are you two doing? Get back here!" Marlene demanded.

Yuji and Cissnei nodded and headed over to them. Yuji took one last glace at the crowd and headed to Marlene. Suddenly he stopped and noticed Yun. She was watching them both from behind a corner.

"Hey Yun," he called.

Immediately she ran down the alley. Yuji and Cissnei took off after her. "Stop Yuji, Cissnei!" Marlene ordered. They didn't listen.

"Not again," groaned Joey. He then looked at Marlene. "What do you think we should do?" he asked.

"Let's find a place to set up camp for the night," she said. Marlene frowned as she heard the two runaway sleepers get farther and farther away.

Yuji and Cissnei raced down the alleyway looking high and low for the girl.

"Yun where are you?" yelled Yuji

"Yun come on out sweetie?" called Cissnei.

They round a corner and enter what might have been the shooping districut. This had more damaged buildings. They gased in horrer at the demolished buildings. "Oh my god," breath Yuji.

Yuji and Cissnei walked from building to building trying to find Yun. One Build that they looked in at two old people resting with left over food. Drooping the curtains they proceeded to move on. Another building that Cissnei looked into had more senior survivors. Cissnei sighed as she looked at their blank faces. Yuji looked at the food that was left from the previous night's meal. He closed his eyes and sadly turned away. Before they could move on a pink bounce ball rolled out from another room and stoped at Yuji feet. Yuji looked down at the object and picked it up. Realizing it was a dog's ball he rushed inside with Cissnei right behind him. 'Hey Yun," he called happly as he rushed in. Olny to find a frighten boy hunging is guont mother. The mother looked at Yuji and Cissnei. Yuji dropped the ball. As the backed up Cissnei tripped. As she looked behind her to see what had caused her to trip she throw up. What had caused her to throw up was the fact that there was a dead human behind her. The unfortunate man had died from starvation. He lay sprawled on the ground with one eyes still open looking at the sky. His bones almost showing through sun dryad skin. Yuji helped Cissenia to her feet. Both of them were shaking.

"Whats going on here," Cissnia said in a shaky voice.

Suddenly the heared the sound of somebody moving. They both saw Yun hiding behind some rubble. Yun got up and stared to run. Yun tried to run away but was to slow. Yuji and Cissnia got behind her. Yuji reacked out a hand and grabed her left arm. Yun gasped and tried to get free. "Wait why are you running away?" questioned Yuji

Yuji released his hold so Yun could look at him. "Don't you remember I'm not going to hurt you," he said trying to reashuer her. Yun looked still unsure. When she glanced down she gasped and yell "Maru!" Yuji glassed down and saw the little brown dog was rubbing its self agaist Yuji leg. "Oh Maur so that's your name isn't?" said Cissnei as she and Yuji nelt down to pet the dog. "Yeah boy I'm galed to be alive to," said Yuji. Yun just stared at the two of them. She did not here the foot steps approaching until someone garbed her shoulder and pulled her back. Yuji and Cissnei looked up to see a man berated Yun.

"Yun!" said the man "You stay away from these two you here me?" he demanded. "But that man helped me and saved me from those monster protested," Yun. "No," said the man. "You should no better you known you can't count on the people from Second Earth. They could't care less about me you or anyone else down here." He aid looking is disgust at Yuji and Cissnei. Stunk bythe world the two got up. Suddenly they were sourneded by survivors all of them staring at the teens with hatred and revouls/ Yuji and Cissnei backed up. "Why are you looking at us like that why?" demanded Yuji.

While this had been going on the other began to set up camp. Chris and Joey had set up the tents while Marlane couslted with Robert. Looking at her map she explained the area they were in. "Robert all of the bridges have been destroyed it looks like the only way to get across is over that narrow scflading," she informed him as she switched of her coummutor. "There must be no flying Blue here that the only way humans could possibly survive in this area it the only way," he conclude.

"Not for long these people are lucky their location hasn't been reviled to the Blue yet. But is only a matter of time before their found." she finished. "Your right," said Robert.

Marlane glanced left and saw Yuji and Cissnei returning.

"Yuji Cissnei were the hell have you two been she?" demaned "aunorthrized acrtivity is stricktly forbidden!" she reperamened them. "Have you seen how these people live here? Demaned Cissnei not caring what Marlane said. "What in the hell did you people from Second Earth so to them? She demaned.

Marlene looked at them uncaring as did Robert and Jin. While chris and Joey looked guilty. "I want to know why they look at me and Cissnei with harte in their eyes?" Yuji demand. Marle or the other didn't responed. "While say something for Christ Sake!" yelled Yuji.

While Joey checked his gun and Chirs muttered something Marlane began to reveal the horrible truth. "In space food and energy are very limited." She said. "As resulted only a chosen few were transported to Second Earth," Chris said unhappily. "Since that time," said Jin "Our orders have been very clear," Marlane took over. "Since that time our orders have been very clear. Our objectives our to becomplted at any coast and any humans that reman our to consider already dead." "Already dead whats that supposed to mean?" said Yuji. "It means for us whearher or not thesoe poele live or die has no bearing on our mission," clarified Marlane. Cissnia gasped as the awful truth downed on her. UImage of the man and his hateful wrs came back. "So you guys aboabond them!" she yelled. Both back away from Marlene. "Now you listen to me." said Yuji "Cissni and I our not like you people from sconed Earth and we don't need your permission to do any thing you got that!" he yelled as they ran off.

Yuji and Cissnei sat at a park bench looking out at the harbor as they tought thisngs over. "What the hell is happening here? I don'tknow how Marlane can be so cold?" he wondered. Cissnia was thinking similar thoughts when she felt something agaist her foot. Looking down she saw Maur. "Hey Maru said Yuji as he petted the dog. Looking over they saw Yun with a bag. "Yun said Cissneia. "here she said as he held out the bag. Yuji and Cissnia opened the bag to find cookies they both looked at yun. Who was staring down at her feet. "our you shure sweeties?" asked Cissneia. Yun nonedded. Each taking a cookie they enjoyed it. "These our good," said Yuji with a smile.

Yun still looked at her feet. Yuji held out the bag infrt of her. "You eat the rest okay.: He said as he put the bag in her hand. Yun smiled sweetly at them. Yun gave the bag to maur and listed to him enjoy himself. "You no what Yuji you and Cissnei your different from the other soldiers she said." "You mean like Marlene?" said Cissnia. Yun nodded.

"While sweetie that's because Yuji and I are from a different time then they our." Yun looked around at the pair to see if they were joking. "We were asleep for a long time, but that was long before you were born. Back then we had hope for the future, but the future don't look bright theses days dost't?" said Yuji. Yun looked sadly out to the harbor.

"I wish I could go to sleep for a long time when your asleep the blue can't get you," she said petting Maru. Cissnei got behind Yun. Yun turned to face her and Cissnei embraced her like a sister. "Yun don't worry we will protect you no mater what she said. Promise she asked Yuji and Cissneia nodded. Yun smiled and hugged her back.

As the two walked back to the others, Yuji and Cissina began to think of ways to help the Yun and the others. As they walled back, Cissnei began to think. "There as to be some way we can help Yun, there as to be" she thought.

Then Yuju had a brainwave. "If we could make contact with the space station, we could send for a rescue party." said Yuju hope filling his face. Then Cissnei warned him. "Marlene won't agree with this," she said. "I known once the resuce party sees what's happening down here then maybe," said Yuji. Before he could finish Cissnei nodded. With that they speed back to camp. As they reach the camp they found Robbert asleep along with Lee. Chris was grouad duty. As the gazzed around the tent, they saw something that filled them with disgust. Marlane had her back against the wall while Joey was necking, her and foundling her right breast. "At a time like this, how could they?" though a disgusted Yuji. He then turned and walked away. Cissnei gazed at them for a moment before walking away as well. "Perfect time to have sex, when people all around you are suffering!" she added with revolution. As the two sleepers left, Joey unzipped Marlene's overall. As he reached to go further, she stopped him." Marlane as a look on her face as she knew they had been watched and juded.

Meanwhile, the two sleepers, sat far away from the people of Second Earth, wondered why this hell had befallen their home.

The next day Marlene showed Robert and the others, something interesting. "Robbert, take a look at this," as she showed her injured commander a map of the city. "There is a tower with a stat alight uplink, I think we will be able to make contact with the space station from there." she informed him. The older soldier hummed at he thought about it. She then turned to her companions. "Joey's lets get ready, were going to move," she ordered. "Yeah okay," he replied. She then turned to Yuji. "You too Yuji." the sleeper nodded and replied in an unconcerned manner, still disgusted with last nights events. "Alright." Lastly she turned to Cissnei, Chris and Lee. "The rest of you will stay here is that understood?" all of them nodded.

As Yuji loaded his pistol, he renewed his vow. "I'm going to do what ever it takes to get these people some help," Yuji promised himself.

As the prepared to leave they heard the sound of an engine. They looked up and to their surprise they saw a shuttle. The shuttle was a lot like the one that had brought them to the air port in Japan. Except this one was white and on it's side was the symbol of the United Nations on it. It landed at the center bridges point. Yuji and Cissnei gazed in surprise at it, along with the personal of Second Earth.

Suddenly the shuttle, doors opened and out came seven armor shrikes. Two dubbled piloted and five sniper shrikes. They were followed by 12 infantry men who kept chanting. "HUP, HUP, HUP!" they said before falling to attention. The their commander appeared. He began to issue orders. "Spaner I want you to examine in the refuges. I want their number and their condition. Is that understood!" he barked out. "Sir, yes sir," saluted the medic before running off to examine the refugees.

The comander turned to the rest of his coamnd. "The rest of you, I want to take up positions until rest arrive is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" said the rest of unit before they dispersed setting up positions where the bridges once stood.

Yuji and Cissnei looked at Marlene and the others expecting an answer. "Marlene who are these people," asked Yuji. To their shock the normally steely women had a look of astonishment on her face. "I don't know," she answered.

While this transpired, the medic returned with his report. "About 500 civilians. Most of them are suffering for malnutaion and miner injuries sir," informed Spaner. At this commander, smiled. "Excellent I did't expect to find this many in one spot. Hopefully the evacation ships will arrive soon," he said. While this happned one of the Shrike pilots noticed Yuji. "No it can't be," he thought before cliaming out and went over. "Hey! Hey Yuju Kito! Is that you?" he called.

Yuji looked at the soldier who called his name. The soldier had a red helmet similar to a bike helmet. It completely covered his face yet the voice sounded oddly familiar…

"How do you known my name?" he demanded.

"Hey is that any way to talk to your best friend?" the soldier asked in a mocking, indigent voice. Taking off his helmet, to reveal a ghost of the past was Yuji's best friend, Takashi Frost.

"It's been awhile, huh Yuji," Takashi said with a grin.

All Yuji could do was to stare in shock and gasp out his friend's name. "Takashi?"


End file.
